Shout for the Dead
(category: fantasy)book 2 of The Acendants of Estorea by
James Barclay
published by Gollancz in 2006, read in October 2009Agamedes' rating: 3 out of 10
Agamedes' opinion:
What a nasty book. Full of self-righteous and often stupid characters with the moral standards of the mafia. The "heroes" have magical super-powers. One of them believes that the powers should only be used for good; he finally decides to go with the flow and add his destructive powers to the war effort. The "Conquord" -- ha ha -- is a military dictatorship lead by a hereditary dictator-for-life. The dictator refuses to listen to her closest advisors telling her that there is trouble -- then changes her mind on the basis of a letter from her son saying, I have no evidence but I feel bad about this so just trust me eh mum... Rather than trying to convince the other power-brokers, mum just shouts orders, then throws a hissy-fit when there is disagreement. Everyone -- including the church army -- uses flaming arrows, pitch and naphtha in battle, yet the church starts a holy war when the army want to burn zombies. Army tacticians are idiots, political leaders are childish, plot logic is out the window, violence is over the top and ethics are based on the idea that the existing dictatorship is worth defending. It leaves the literary equivalent of a bad taste in the mouth.
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